Capillary extraction

Langmuir. 2011 Aug 2;27(15):9396-402. doi: 10.1021/la201490m. Epub 2011 Jul 7.

Abstract

A nonwetting slug placed at the end of a capillary tube is unstable: a small displacement results in the complete extraction of the liquid from the tube. We study two limiting cases, corresponding to a slug viscosity larger or smaller than that of the surrounding liquid. By varying parameters such as the drop and tube length, we identify in each case the dominant dissipation and describe experimentally and theoretically the dynamics of extraction.